This year our kids' spring breaks didn't really coincide. The boys had two weeks off for their Easter holiday beginning with March 26th, and Katya didn't start her one week holiday till after April 10th. We only had one three day weekend when everyone was off, even Robert, so we decided to stay in the country, sort of, and go visit one of our favorite places on the island--Southern Wales. We left on Friday morning and headed west towards Swansea. The great thing is that we can now easily go for 3-3.5 hours without stopping and kids do great.
On the way to the house where we were staying, we stopped at Oystermouth Castle.
This castle was built in the early 12th century, shortly after the Normans invaded Gower peninsula. We think that the earliest settlers here looked a bit like this.
Robert thought that they were quite short.
After the Dark Ages, the castle gradually fell into ruins.
But in the year 2010, this castle went a 1 million pound renovation. They didn't fix ALL the holes.
Katya and Mark looking out of the castle window. That's the coast in the distance.
I admit, I get a bit scared when the kids roam around these unprotected walls, especially if they are running around and playing hide and seek. I sometimes wonder if anything like that would be allowed in the states;)
Beautiful windows frames still intact.
Watsons in Wales.
Hiding from us and thinking they are so hard to find.
The castle is standing practically right in the middle of the town of Mumbles. Seriously, you walk to the store to buy some food on one side of the street and you go the opposite direction to visit the castle.
And that's how close we were to Swansea Bay.
More pictures of the castle.
After our visit to the castle and packed lunch in the car, we drove to the house we were staying in, closer to Rossilli Bay. We dropped off our suitcase and stuff and drove to another beach just minutes away from us.
The tide was coming in as we watched the waves for over an hour. It was chilly and started to spit (drizzle), so we headed back to the house.
After dinner we stopped at the petrol station/convenience store for awesome food. I got these Welsh Cakes just to try....and OH MY GOODNESS....these were so good! They are a little sweet, kind of dense but melt in your mouth (they do have raisins).
And thus ended the first day of our Welsh trip.
Lyana.
No comments:
Post a Comment